O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Ring of terror
RSS men in the dock
The confessions of Swami Aseemanand have put a stamp of authentication on the widespread allegations of Hindutva terror made by the Congress and others. It is not only him but many others like RSS national executive member Indresh Kumar who are now in the dock for the blasts in Mecca Masjid, Malegoan, Ajmer and Samjhauta Express.

Winds of change in J&K
Those who patronised militants must be exposed
With militancy in Kashmir on the wane, those who preferred to keep quiet on the killings of inconvenient leaders have begun to speak out. Gone are the days when anyone speaking against militants or their “white collar” patrons would be finished off. The lead in telling the “truth” has been given by Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, a former Hurriyat Conference chairman.

A delayed Tejas
Indigenous LCA is still a long way
In Sanskrit, tejas, the name given to India’s indigenously developed light combat aircraft (LCA), means brilliance. On Monday, the Tejas was finally accorded an initial operational clearance, but this tells only part of the story. The otherwise landmark event is the culmination of almost 27 years of work marked, however, more by unacceptable time and cost overruns – from an initial ` 560 crore to a staggering ` 17,269 crore.

• Thought for the Day

ARTICLE

Plan B for India in Afghanistan
Let Pakistan remain entrapped
by D. Suba Chandran
With the Lisbon summit of the NATO countries (in November 2010) and the Afghanistan Review by President Barack Obama (in December 2010) over, it is time for New Delhi to take stock of the situation in Afghanistan, and rework its strategy to achieve those primary objectives. And as Robert Blackwill has done for the US (“Plan B in Afghanistan: Why de facto partition is the least bad option,” Foreign Affairs, January/February 2011), perhaps India should also prepare a Plan B if the present strategy is unlikely to yield the desired results.

MIDDLE

Perception or the lack thereof
by Simrita Dhir
During a recent conversation with a professor of literature, I commented that the poetry of San Francisco-based singer/ songwriter Matt Nathanson was marked with profound anxiety and solitude and was in many ways hugely evocative of the great German poet, Rilke. And even though the professor found the thought at best “refreshing”, he was amused. And because in any given situation, a person sees only what he chooses to see, I could explain the professor’s amusement as his inability to see what he had chosen not to see – a 30 something year old popular singer/songwriter who crooned on the radio and on the MTV being compared in any way to Rilke, one of the greatest poets of the 20th century.

OPED GOVERNANCE

The civil services are in the throes of a serious crisis of confidence. Even as the fight against corruption must be intensified, the focus in 2011 should be on developing an effective interface between the people and the officers for ensuring good governance
Time to tackle core problems
V. Eshwar Anand
If good governance is the ultimate goal of the civil services, efforts should be stepped up in 2011 to make them dynamic, result-oriented and corruption-free at the Centre and in the states.

EDITORIALS

Ring of terror
RSS men in the dock

The confessions of Swami Aseemanand have put a stamp of authentication on the widespread allegations of Hindutva terror made by the Congress and others. It is not only him but many others like RSS national executive member Indresh Kumar who are now in the dock for the blasts in Mecca Masjid, Malegoan, Ajmer and Samjhauta Express. What is all the more shocking is that many innocent persons have been incarcerated all this while for the crime which they never committed. Even the investigating agencies had “proved” their guilt. That shows how undependable official versions can be in such conspiracies. It is now coming to light that there were clues galore about saffron radicals being behind the blasts, but these were conveniently ignored and all the blame heaped at the doors of innocent persons. Even the ISI hand was “clearly seen” behind the blasts.

Swami Aseemanand alias Jotin Chatterjee has made his confessions before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code and is thus admissible as evidence. However, the BJP and others are plugging the line that these were extracted under duress and was only a clever ploy of the Congress to divert attention from its numerous scams and scandals. The problem is that the whole body politic has been muddied so badly that it is impossible to distinguish between the right and the wrong.

In such a surcharged atmosphere, the statement of RSS head Mohan Bhagwat that there were some members in the Sangh who showed signs of extremism and were told to leave the outfit, has only added grist to the rumour mill. In a way, it is a roundabout admission that there were such persons in the RSS ranks. By saying that they left on their own or were made to leave, he might be only trying to insulate the others from their ever-lengthening shadow. Charges may or may not stick in a court of law but suspicions will remain. In the process, a perfect weapon has been gifted to Pakistan to beat India with.

Winds of change in J&K
Those who patronised militants must be exposed

With militancy in Kashmir on the wane, those who preferred to keep quiet on the killings of inconvenient leaders have begun to speak out. Gone are the days when anyone speaking against militants or their “white collar” patrons would be finished off. The lead in telling the “truth” has been given by Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, a former Hurriyat Conference chairman. He stunned everybody over a week ago when he stated at a seminar in Srinagar that the killers of People’s Conference leader Abdul Ghani Lone and Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq were “our own people”. This was contrary to what the people in the Valley had been fed with so far, accusing the security forces. What professor Bhat has said has been seconded by the two sons of the late Lone — Bilal and Sajjad — who, too, have emerged as well-known leaders. Mr Sajjad Lone has specifically raised his finger at “white collar men who order killings”. Professor Bhat’s brother, Mohammad Sultan Bhat, was also done to death in 1995.

Moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has been maintaining diplomatic silence. But his silence is being interpreted as approval of what Professor Bhat and the Lone brothers have said. The hard-line Hurriyat leadership has reacted on expected lines. Mr Ayaz Akber, a spokesman of hawkish leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, has dismissed Mr Bhat’s statement as “deserving no response”. However, what Mr Akber could not say has been expressed by the hardcore separatist outfit of women, Asiya Andarabi-led Dokhtaran-e-Millat. It has branded Mr Bhat an “Indian agent”.

Whatever Mr Geelani and his camp followers may say, they appear to be in the dock. The time has come to expose those who played the politics of killings by patronising terrorist groups. Interestingly, separatists of all shades appear to be disenchanted with Pakistan. Mr Geelani is no longer referred to as “Buzurg Rehnuma” in Pakistan. He has been reduced to being called the Hurriyat chairman. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, too, no longer gets the treatment he got during the days of Gen Pervez Musharraf. Whether there is some policy shift or not in Islamabad may be known in the days to come.

A delayed Tejas
Indigenous LCA is still a long way

In Sanskrit, tejas, the name given to India’s indigenously developed light combat aircraft (LCA), means brilliance. On Monday, the Tejas was finally accorded an initial operational clearance, but this tells only part of the story. The otherwise landmark event is the culmination of almost 27 years of work marked, however, more by unacceptable time and cost overruns – from an initial ` 560 crore to a staggering ` 17,269 crore.

The Tejas, which is meant to replace the antiquated Soviet-origin MiG-21 fleet, is still far from induction into the Indian Air Force, which most disconcertingly has been grappling with declining fighter squadron strength. As of now, weapon systems have not been fully integrated into this aircraft and, so, its operational induction into the air force is not expected until end-2013. Like most other high-end technology projects, the LCA too is a microcosm of all that is wrong with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) along with the nature of constraints and challenges in which it functions. The Tejas may have been built in India, but its key components are mostly either American or built with US assistance. It is powered by the US supplied General Electric 404 engine while the flight control system has been developed by Lockheed Martin, which again is an American company. India’s plan to develop the indigenous Kaveri aero-engine for the Tejas has, after spending 20 years and ` 2,830 crore, been an effort in vain. As a consequence, the DRDO is now looking for foreign partners to jointly develop an aero-engine. As of now Mk-II of the Tejas is to be powered by the American GE-414 engine, which again, is expected to fructify only by December 2014.

By the time the Tejas enters squadron service, it is expected to end up being, at best, a medium-end fighter and somewhat behind the times. As the air chief uncomplimentingly put it, the Tejas will be a “MiG-21 plus-plus”. Surely there is need for the DRDO to exercise greater tejas in executing their projects if India, an aspiring power, has to attain a credible degree of self-reliance in weapon technology.

Thought for the Day

The successful always has a number of projects planned, to which he looks forward. Anyone of them could change the course of his life overnight. — Mark Caine

ARTICLE

Plan B for India in Afghanistan
Let Pakistan remain entrapped
by D. Suba Chandran

With the Lisbon summit of the NATO countries (in November 2010) and the Afghanistan Review by President Barack Obama (in December 2010) over, it is time for New Delhi to take stock of the situation in Afghanistan, and rework its strategy to achieve those primary objectives. And as Robert Blackwill has done for the US (“Plan B in Afghanistan: Why de facto partition is the least bad option,” Foreign Affairs, January/February 2011), perhaps India should also prepare a Plan B if the present strategy is unlikely to yield the desired results.

First, what is our own assessment of the situation in Afghanistan? And what are our alternatives? The Lisbon summit makes it clear that NATO would be withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan by 2014. President Hamid Karzai’s statement at the Lisbon summit that the Afghans should take ownership of their security and governance was more an ultimatum than a request. For the US and NATO, this serves their purpose and they should be glad to exit as early as possible.

Will Mr Karzai be able to secure Afghanistan on his own? The Afghan security forces — the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the Afghan Police — are far from ready, both in terms of training and equipment. In terms of recent history, there is no single operation that the ANA has undertaken successfully on its own against the Taliban. More importantly, in terms of military leadership, there is no leader who has the charisma to attract the loyalty of diverse components. The command and control structure of the ANA is far from complete. Once the international troops leave, the ANA will not be able to secure even Kabul and protect their President.

There is no doubt that Mr Karzai will not be able to convince the Afghans that his government will deliver and provide safety and security to the common people vis-à-vis the Taliban. His government is seen as corrupt and opportunist even by most Pashtuns, people of his own tribe. Neither the Afghan educational institutions nor the legal structures will be able to provide education and justice, the two most important demands that would ultimately force most of the Pashtuns to go back to the Taliban.

On its part, the Taliban infrastructure remains intact. Though the CIA and the US take pride in telling that they have disrupted (if not completely dismantled) the Al-Qaeda network, the Taliban network led by the Quetta Shura and the Nangarhar Shura (popularly known as the Haqqani network) are intact. It will not take more than six months or one year for both these networks to overrun the Karzai government. The Quetta Shura led by Mullah Omar is strongly positioned in Balochistan with regular inputs from Southern Afghanistan. The Haqqani network, according to recent reports, has shifted its base to FATA in Pakistan. The drone attacks have targeted Al-Qaeda, but top and second-rung leaders of these networks are alive and receive constant support from both sides of the Durand Line.

Finally, the umbilical cord between Pakistan and the Taliban remains uncut. Available reports do not suggest that the ISI and the military in Pakistan have totally distanced themselves from the above-mentioned groups. Besides, Islamabad has succeeded in pressurising Mr Karzai to reach an understanding on trade and transit between the two countries, and signing the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline agreement. The ISI has also succeeded in removing the anti-Pakistani elements in Mr Karzai’s Interior Ministry — Interior Minister Hanif Atmar and Afghan Intelligence Chief Amrullah Saleh were removed due to pressure from Pakistan.

Equally importantly, Islamabad also seems to have succeeded in convincing the international community (read the US and Europe) that the road to any moderate success in Kabul runs via Islamabad and the Khyber Pass. Today the US and other major powers, including the UK, (perhaps reluctantly) agree that there is no alternative in Kabul other than to concede an increased role for Pakistan in what they consider as “Endgame Afghanistan”.

How should India secure its interests against this backdrop? What are the alternatives? India has invested more than a billion US dollars in Afghanistan. How should it protect them and continue to maintain a presence in Afghanistan? More importantly, what should be done to negate the growing influence of Pakistan?

The first alternative is to work with whichever regime that remains in Kabul. But what if that regime, under Islamabad’s influence, is unwilling to work with India? The hard truth is that Mr Karzai has started looking outside already; the chances of his support to New Delhi’s enlarged engagement in Afghanistan are minimal. If the Taliban factions come back to power, in one form or the other, even this minimal space will get completely shut. The possibility of the Northern Alliance — which could provide a larger role to India — getting back to power is slim.

The second alternative is to form a coalition of regional powers — including Iran, Pakistan, Russia and some Central Asian countries — to ensure that Afghanistan remains neutral and no single country/ actor makes it as its backyard and allows it to be the centre of radical Islam.

The third alternative is to ensure a small presence, perhaps along with the US. It is widely expected that the US would leave a small force primarily to operate the drones for attacking Al-Qaeda. This is where India should seriously reconsider its obsession in negating the Pakistani influence in Afghanistan. Instead of India trying to obstruct the Pakistani presence, New Delhi should attempt to trap Pakistan in Afghanistan. Any historical analysis of Afghanistan-Pakistan relations would reveal that Pakistan has not succeeded in establishing a positive relationship with the Afghan nation, including the Taliban. There is hardly a section that will appreciate Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan.

Pakistan, on the other hand, has not gained anything substantial from Afghanistan. Most of Pakistan’s recent problems actually originate from across the Durand Line. In fact, Afghanistan does not provide strategic depth any more to Pakistan. India should have a symbolic presence in Afghanistan, adequate enough to annoy Pakistan and involve more, and get trapped.

The last alternative is to cut its losses and get out of Afghanistan. This is where India will have to relook its strategic objectives in Afghanistan. There is so much of an intellectual discussion, without much of an understanding of geography, saying that Afghanistan is India’s gateway to Central Asia. Is there a secret passage or grand tunnel which makes Afghanistan a gateway to Central Asia, jump-starting Pakistan from the Wagah border?

Plan B for India would be to cut its losses and leave Afghanistan, perhaps with a minimal presence, adequate enough to trap Pakistan. Let Pakistan consider Afghanistan as its strategic depth and remain embroiled.

The writer is Deputy Director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi.

MIDDLE

Perception or the lack thereof
by Simrita Dhir

During a recent conversation with a professor of literature, I commented that the poetry of San Francisco-based singer/ songwriter Matt Nathanson was marked with profound anxiety and solitude and was in many ways hugely evocative of the great German poet, Rilke. And even though the professor found the thought at best “refreshing”, he was amused. And because in any given situation, a person sees only what he chooses to see, I could explain the professor’s amusement as his inability to see what he had chosen not to see – a 30 something year old popular singer/songwriter who crooned on the radio and on the MTV being compared in any way to Rilke, one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. 

Perhaps the claims of a Pulitzer-winning poet to the legacy of Rilke could have been better justified because the truth is that we are unable to perceive or appreciate art in unexpected places. This truth could not be better reflected than in the episode below.

A while back, on a winter morning, one of the world’s greatest violinists, Joshua Bell, performed incognito at a metro station in Washington D.C. His performance was part of a social experiment on perception. The question being – Are we able to perceive and appreciate art springing from an unexpected source?

As Joshua Bell played six of the most intricate Bach pieces for about an hour on a handcrafted 18th century historic violin, thousands of people passed through the station on their way to work. With the exception of about 20 who stopped to tip the man, others hurried past. In all, Joshua Bell collected $32. And when the performance drew to a close, there was no applause.

The passing crowd had completely failed to notice that the fiddler was the great Joshua Bell. In the busy morning rush, the young Bell was confused for an average to below average music student trying to earn some quick cash. In the given context, the brilliance that flowed from his violin made a fleeting impression, if any. As perception springs from the interaction between one’s past experiences, cultural background and one’s individual interpretation of the incident in question, the social experiment concluded that most people are unable to appreciate art in unexpected situations.

And coming back to Matt Nathanson, the same is true for him.  As a popular singer/songwriter, he is not a likely candidate for discussion in a literature class and it may not be anytime soon that his poetry will be picked up for publication by The New Yorker. However, he will continue to write and sing platinum selling songs. He will also continue to have his own audience, who perceive his writing and music outside the context of poetry that is taught as part of curricula.  To Nathanson’s fans, Rilke, whoever he may be, may as well be consigned to oblivion.

As for me, because I like them both and because I believe that somewhere outside of their designated realm and time in history, the writings of Rilke and Nathanson at once converge and melt, I will continue to think outside the box. And yes, on any given day, I will be sure to watch out for that street musician!

OPED

The civil services are in the throes of a serious crisis of confidence. Even as the fight against corruption must be intensified, the focus in 2011 should be on developing an effective interface between the people and the officers for ensuring good governance
Time to tackle core problems
V. Eshwar Anand

Kuldeep Dhiman

If good governance is the ultimate goal of the civil services, efforts should be stepped up in 2011 to make them dynamic, result-oriented and corruption-free at the Centre and in the states.

Special attention should be given to the district administration which is the cutting edge of governance. There is a lot of disconnect between the officers and the people at present. This hiatus should be bridged. Governance can improve if special emphasis is laid on developing an effective interface between the people and the civil servants. The focus should be on a face-to-face administration rather than a file-to-file administration.

AGENDA 2011 n The principle of the right person for the right job should be followed giving priority to developing specialisation and core competency among senior civil servants. n Tighten the selection process for posts such as the Central Vigilance Commissioner, the CBI Director, the Comptroller & Auditor-General, Chief Secretaries and DGPs. n Parliament should enact the Civil Services Bill, 2009, that seeks to prevent arbitrary transfers and ensure a fixed tenure for competent officers. n Corruption must be checked by expediting cases against the civil servants. Article 311 and the Single Directive clause must go. n Implementation of police reforms brooks no delay. States cannot dilute the directives of the Supreme Court. The police should be insulated from political interference.

Don’t devalue public institutions Public institutions responsible for governance have been degraded and devalued in recent years. This must stop in the new year. The Election Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India have been able to keep their profile and integrity intact mainly because, as in the case of the Election Commission, for example, once the electoral process starts, nobody can interfere with it. That’s why, the Election Commission inspires immense confidence in the people. In spite of the Supreme Court, the other investigating bodies — the Central Vigilance Commission and the Central Bureau of Investigation — seem unable to inspire confidence. As for the CVC, if you accept the justifiable procedure of a 3-member group for selecting him, as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha says, it is unnecessarily inviting a penalty corner because the decision to select Mr P.J. Thomas as the CVC was not unanimous. As for senior civil servants, there are a number of recommendations regarding their selection and appointment to various important positions. But why should the Chief Secretaries, DGP, etc. be appointed by whim and removed by caprice? The media, as Prof Amartya Sen says, should focus on the problems rather than on the personalities. — K.C. Sivaramakrishnan, Chairman, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, and former Secretary to Govt of India

We will improve the quality of life The beginning of the New Year is a time for introspection and resolutions. 2010 has indeed been a watershed year for Haryana. The state has made tremendous strides in areas ranging from sports, education and health to infrastructure, metro linkages and nuclear energy. These have placed the state on the national and global canvas. Significant efforts have been made towards ensuring efficient delivery of services, improving the quality of life and addressing the concerns of the people. We must assess and appraise our success thus far in making governance more transparent and people-friendly and resolve to do more. As we forge ahead on the road to becoming a fully developed state, it is imperative that we concentrate our energies on building a people-oriented and graft-free administration. Welfare of the people of the state ought to be the cornerstone of all our policies and programmes and we must ensure that the benefits of development percolate down to the masses. We ought to put in place an effective redressal system and facilitate people’s participation in governance as well as in exterminating from society evils such as female foeticide, illiteracy, crime and corruption. We shall continue to focus on capacity building and development of skill sets of the human resource. — Urvashi Gulati, Chief Secretary, Haryana

Service delivery at less cost The major change that I foresee in the year 2011 would be completion of initiatives taken by the present government in governance reforms. A lot of thinking and hard work has gone into these initiatives on the part of the Governance Reforms Commission and follow up work has also been done by the different departments. Some results have already come. For example, e-tendering has become operational in a number of departments. During 2011, we would see completion of these initiatives in the Departments of Revenue, Transport, Local Government, Police, Health, and Panchayats. The objective of this exercise is to deliver services to the citizens in a convenient and transparent manner with minimal hassle and cost. The Department of Police has created a friendly interface between the people and the police at the cutting edge level. Police Suvidha Centres are being set up where the citizens would be able to obtain services without experiencing any problem. During this year, we are also hopeful of obtaining major investments in the knowledge economy as a result of development of the Knowledge City in Mohali, the IIT Campus in Ropar and the Knowledge Park next to it. We are also hopeful of taking forward the Global Industrial and Knowledge City at Rajpura despite some initial hiccups. — Subodh Chandra Agrawal, Chief Secretary, Punjab

Bringing govt, people closer IN 2011, we will continue to strengthen the agriculture and allied sectors to bring prosperity to our farmers. We will work harder on improving the agriculture marketing infrastructure. We will undertake a survey of all the irrigation schemes so that corrective steps are taken to utilise the irrigation potential created so far. Special efforts will also be made for harvesting of rain water, particularly in the ‘water stressed’ blocks of the state. To bring the government and the people closer, we will make best use of IT tools to provide transparency in governance, enhance efficiency and eliminate corruption. All our 3,243 panchayats will have access to IT facilities. We are trying to make Himachal Pradesh a carbon-neutral state. In 2011, we will continue with our efforts for making HP an environment-friendly and polythene-free state. Health and education will be our priorities. The Atal Swasthya Sewa ambulances will reach the patients promptly. In education, our emphasis will be on quality. Hydel energy is a sector where we have comparative advantage. We will monitor the progress of all projects. Himachal Pradesh has immense tourism potential. In 2011, we will focus more on developing lesser known areas, providing way-side amenities and try to bring out the rich cultural heritage, history, folklore and traditions of our state. — Rajwanti Sandhu, Chief Secretary, Himachal Pradesh

The delivery mechanism needs to be streamlined with clearer delineation of roles and functions between the district administration and the local bodies. Strong accountability mechanisms — both hierarchical and downward forms including social accountability mechanisms such as report cards, social audit, people’s budgeting, people’s estimates, participatory planning and appraisal, etc. — must be put in place.

The Right to Information Act has helped in bringing about transparency and efficiency in government services to some extent. Yet, there is need for a suitable legislation that will force civil servants to deliver on time. The work ethic in government offices must improve. The Centre and the states can usher in a new culture of administration if the principle of the right person for the right job is followed.

The Centre and the states should wage a war against corrupt civil servants. There is a need to expedite the proceedings against them and bring them to book in 2011. Over 25 of them in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India are facing charges of corruption. Is there no timeframe for the Group of Secretaries to decide and order investigation against them? The departmental proceedings against the IAS officers move at a snail’s pace. And when it comes to the crunch, the officer under a cloud retires and goes scot free. Ironically, though IAS officers are said to be rule-bound, when it comes to their own conduct, they don’t seem to bother about the rules. Moreover, there is no fear of the law. If the corrupt are punished expeditiously, it will send the right message down the line. The Bihar legislation to confiscate the property of the corrupt bureaucrats and politicians should be replicated by the Centre and all states.

There is an imperative need to review Article 311 of the Constitution which gives undue protection to civil servants against arbitrary dismissal and punishment. No other country gives this kind of protection to them. It has become a big hurdle in the fight against corruption. The eight-member Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee should take steps to get Article 311 repealed.The Single Directive clause which gives protection to officers of the rank of Joint Secretary and above should also go.

The GoM, set up in the backdrop of Congress President and National Advisory Council Chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s action plan to tackle corruption “head-on”, is timely and well-intended. However, it remains to be seen whether its recommendations (to be ready in two months) would remain on paper or implemented in toto.

What happened to the UPA government’s Civil Services Bill (2009) which sought to fine-tune the 2007 Bill to create an enforceable code of conduct for civil servants? Parliament would do well to debate the Bill and enact it fast. The Bill imposes many sanctions against civil servants found wanting: censure; withhold of promotions; recovery from pay of the whole or part of pecuniary loss caused to the government; withholding of increments; reduction to a lower stage in the time scale of pay; compulsory retirement; removal of and dismissal from service.

More important, the legislation will help IAS and IPS officers get a fixed tenure of three years in every posting. If an officer is transferred before three years, he or she will have to be compensated for the inconvenience and harassment caused due to such a move. As most transfers are whimsical and arbitrary, they will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny to remove the element of discretion in such orders. It will especially help those working in the states because the officers will not be at the mercy of the Chief Ministers, ministers and powerful MLAs.

Institutions such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Central Vigilance Commission, the state vigilance and anti-corruption departments seem to be failing in their fight against corruption. While these institutions are regarded as handmaidens of the government, they also suffer from a number of inherent limitations for effectively responding to corruption.

The selection of officers for the CBI, the CVC and other anti-corruption organisations at the Centre and in the states should be made more stringent (particularly in view of the P.J. Thomas episode and the CBI’s shoddy performance chart) with accent on the officers’ impeccable integrity and good track record.

Effective implementation of the Supreme Court’s four-year-old directives on police reforms brooks no delay. If implemented, these reforms are expected to insulate the police administration from political and other influences. Unfortunately, most states have implemented only a watered down version of the reforms which will not serve the intended purpose.

The Supreme Court and its monitoring committee should bestow special attention on the time-bound implementation of police reforms by the state governments in areas like the state security commission, the selection of DGPs through a panel and a fixed tenure for the DGP, IGPs and SSPs.

There is a crying need for administrative reforms. There is no dearth of committees and recommendations. But there is no political will to implement them on the ground. The Second Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Mr M. Veerappa Moily had done a good job. Some of its suggestions such as developing specialisation and domain competency among civil servants are worthy of implementation.

Above all, to improve the quality of governance at the Centre and in the states, the civil servants should be given adequate opportunities to perform with freedom, efficacy and accountability. The focus should be on reaching out to tackling the core problems and not tinkering with peripheral issues.